If you like to travel light and to far-off lands and you want mega-features in a cellular phone, have at look at the Nokia 8890.

The handsome 3.2 oz (91 gram) cellular phone measures 3.9 inches (10 cm) in length. It's just slightly longer and slightly narrower than a credit card, maiking it purse- and pocket-friendly.

However, its smallness does pose some problems. When it sits against your ear, the mouthpiece, which is mounted on a slide-out panel, barely reaches your mouth. It feels odd, but works well, as long as the earpiece is centered on your ear.

A small phone means a small dial-pad. On the 8890, it is hidden beneath the slide-out panel. Its buttons are tiny. Chubby fingers or digits with long nails may have trouble dialing.

Gadget freaks will like its fun features, like call forwarding, an alarm clock, calendar and the obligatory Nokia games. A calculator can convert foreign currencies when you travel. There's also voice-dialing feature: record eight names, and - when spoken - the gadget will autodial associated phone numbers.

The 8890 has 35 ring tones with matching vibration alerts that buzz-along with the tone tunes. They have names like "The Buffoon," "Charleston," and "Robo N1X."

There are also five profiles to allow programming of customized phone settings based on your location, in case you're in a meeting or outside.
The backlighting of the tiny screen and keypad emits a blue-purple glow, which is very pleasant and works well in all kinds of lighting conditions.

Also of note is the infrared port and modem, which can be used to share the Internet wirelessly with a handheld Palm device. You'll need to install Palm's Internet connection kit on your handheld to make this work. A Web connection kit can also be used to connect a laptop to the Internet at a slow 9600 bits per second.

The 8890's lithium-ion battery provides two to three hours of talk time and standby time of 50 to 150 hours.
When you travel, the phone auto-switches to any GSM cellular network provider around the world that has a deal with your domestic carrier. This is particularly useful if you travel in Europe and Asia, because GSM is the dominant network type in those regions. GSM coverage is present, but less prevalent in Canada and the U.S.